Daily Life

Summer. What’s not to love about our most carefree season? Aside from the heat, of course. One the best things about warm weather is being able to take our meals outside. Having an early morning coffee on the patio or firing up the grill for a late night supper is right up my alley. I also love easy meals that don’t require much if any, cooking, and picnics combine both – relishing the outdoors and zero obligation to be in front of a hot stove.

Always wanting to be prepared to picnic in style, I spend a lot of time (probably too much) gathering supplies. I unabashedly confess to having a complete and utter obsession with packaging. It’s borderline ridiculous. I have been known to buy items I never even open based solely on the packaging. Please tell me I’m not the only one. My current stash is of epic proportions and I have no intentions of paring down my trove. Since we’re friends and obviously love the same things, I thought it fit to share my tips and resources to help you up your picnic game with my favorite swoon worthy supplies!

Recently I was able to hit the flea market with my neighbor. She’s new at the treasure hunting game but has certainly caught the bug. It’s nice to have someone close by who will also get up at o’dawn hundred to make the trek with the only guarantee being hot coffee. Because as we all know it can be hit or miss at the flea.

One of the items I found was this metal vase with perfect patina for our guest room. Fortunately my neighbor also let me pick flowers since our gardens are pitiful right now. I’ve actually been buying vases whenever they catch my eye because it’s the one prop item I’m constantly having to source or ship from my inventory. So I’m happily stocking up in that department. Here are the other finds that came home with me….

You may recall from this post I’ve been yearning for some personal creative time. As an introvert, a quiet sabbatical at home seemed the perfect solution to renew my creative mojo. I have a tendency to work, work, work with a self imposed need to accomplish business tasks first and foremost in my day. I suppose if I were on a therapists couch (namely you at this moment) we would discuss why I embrace hard work over things that may or may not produce tangible assets – such as an empty calendar. And although it’s taken me years to realize the value of creative breaks (and be ok with the fact it’s basically “me” time) I firmly believe I should have been scheduling them all along and have plans to continue exploring this new routine without guilt or expectation.